FriendBurst Blog

I may not have been down at the Occupy Seattle demonstration this week, but I did do something to improve my community today.

I complained about a broken crosswalk button at an intersection I use almost everyday.  I tried to refrain from writing an entire blog on the city of Lynnwood’s Public Works complaint page…

So I watched last night’s Republican debates.  Again, I tried to refrain myself from writing a blog when Michelle Bachman tried to blame the federal government, specifically Fannie and Freddy, for the subprime mortgage crisis.  I wanted to take a moment and explain to her how the mortgage market worked back in ’06 and ’07.  I was the loan officer for dozens of subprime loans during that time, and of the 30 or 40 loans I was responsible for, I can only think of one that got picked up by Fannie Mae.  We were required (whether it was company policy at Countrywide or some regulation, I don’t know) to put all of our risky loans at the doorstep of the government and ask “will you back this loan?”  Again, one out of 30 or 40 loans (say, 3%) was within the risk standards of these quasi-federal agencies.  That loan was when a little old lady wanted to cash in on the $80K she owed on her $400K home (at the time).  She wanted to up her mortgage to $160K and use the proceeds to make some necessary improvements and repairs.  This meant her loan-to-value was still under 50%.  Fannie Mae thought this was a good risk and “took” the loan. So, despite her really bad credit score, she did not get a subprime loan.  She got a “conforming” loan and saved hundreds of dollars a month.

It is inaccurate to blame Fannie Mae for the subprime loan disaster.  By definition, any loan Fannie backed was NOT a subprime loan.  There might have been a few subprime borrowers getting Fannie backed loans, but they were the lucky ones and few and far between.

Now, with that introduction, I bet you thought this blog would be political and might refer to Huntsman saying he initially thought the “999 Plan” was the price of a pizza, but no, I won’t be talking about that.  I won’t be talking about how incensed that made Herman Cain, the Republican frontrunner for the nomination.

My impression of last night’s debate is that once again, Mitt Romney won.  It’ inevadible.  Put your money down.  Mitt will be GOP nominee in 2012.

I’m already working on a cover of the Cranberries’ song “Zombie” entitled “Romney”.  They do rhyme, afterall.

No, the basketball and pizza references are to this video, which I recorded 4 years ago this week.  It’s mildly entertaining.  There is a certain nostalgia in telling the pizza guy, “did you know this very establishment was the subject of a top 20 blog on MySpace this week?”  That only would have meant something in 2007 or earlier.

Oh, what the heck, lets look at the other years…

2008! One month before the election. Sarah Palin debates Barry Kitten.

And in 2009, proving that ANYTHING is entertaining when set to “Yakkity Sax”, even unpacking.